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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024147">Just a Doofus</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnTheFritz/pseuds/OnTheFritz'>OnTheFritz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Prompts [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, cameo by Munkustrap, help i love them, just a moment in the lives of these two dorks, little bit of smooching but not much else, poor guy, silly stuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:07:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,473</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30024147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnTheFritz/pseuds/OnTheFritz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a cute tumble/pounce moment. These two are so cute help me.</p><p>Fic requested by anonymous on tumblr</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pouncival/Tumblebrutus (Cats)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Prompts [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207193</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just a Doofus</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was too quiet in the junkyard. Well, by normal standards it was as quiet as any other day, but to Tumblebrutus it was far too quiet for his liking. Luckily there was a certain someone in the vicinity that could change that. Currently said someone was peacefully sleeping but that could be easily changed.</p><p>“Nothing.” Tumble said aloud as he casually poked the tom currently using his lap as a pillow. </p><p>“Mngh.” Pouncival groaned, burying his face in Tumble’s fur. “Whu’d wan’?”</p><p>“Nothing.”</p><p>“Huh?” Blearily Pounce turned his head so he could properly stare at him.</p><p>“I said nothing.”</p><p>“You said something.”</p><p>“No I didn’t say something.” Tumble grinned as the realization dawned on Pounce’s face. “I said nothing.”</p><p>It was impressive how quickly Pounce could wake up once properly annoyed. </p><p>“Tumble, I’m gonna kill you, I swear-”</p><p>“No you won’t.” Tumble interrupted.</p><p>“And why won’t I?”</p><p>“Because you love me.”</p><p>“Argh.” Pounce growled halfheartedly at him and sat up, purposefully flicking dirt at him with his tail. “I do.”</p><p>“You do what?”</p><p>“Love you. But I’m gonna take it back if you don’t have a good reason for waking me up.”</p><p>“It’s too quiet.” Tumble told him. As expected Pounce immediately forgot he was mad and twitched his ears.</p><p>“Yeah, we need to change that.”</p><p>“What do you wanna do?”</p><p>“Oh, I can think of something.” Pounce gave him an enticing look over his shoulder. How Pounce even knew how to be sultry in the first place was a mystery.</p><p>“Oh?” Tumble purred, moving in closer. “And what would that be?”</p><p>“Hold on, we gotta go somewhere where there’s more room.” Pounce grabbed him by the elbow. “Don’t want to bang my head on things.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“You always keep gripin’ about me needing more room, so come on.”</p><p>Five minutes later Tumble was watching as Pounce navigated his way through a series of sloppy cartwheels. Why the tom had insisted that they do acrobatics instead of certain other physical activities was beyond him but here they were. And there was no argument that Pounce needed the practice.</p><p>“Pounce, you’re supposed to use all your limbs when cartwheeling.” Tumble sighed. “And you need to keep your elbows and knees straight.”</p><p>“This is dumb.” Pounce complained as he once more fell flat on his face.</p><p>“No it’s not. And you said you wanted to learn how to do cartwheels and flips and stuff.”</p><p>“Well yeah, because you look so awesome doing it-”</p><p>Tumble glowed at the praise.</p><p>“-and I don’t want the others thinking you’re cooler than me.”</p><p>Tumble rolled his eyes. “Fine. But you need to let me show you.”</p><p>Tumbling and flipping and general acrobatics came naturally to him. It still took practice but once he got in the rhythm it came as naturally as dancing. Effortlessly he flipped and turned and twisted through the air, making sure to put on a good show for Pounce. It was absolutely for educational purposes and not because he wanted to show off. The flourish at the end was just an example of showmanship and not so he could flex his muscles a little more.</p><p>Pounce was sitting stock still and staring at him with wide, unblinking eyes. It was the quietest Tumble had ever seen him.</p><p>“What’s that look for?” Tumble asked.</p><p>“Um.” Pounce’s face was turning red. “Just… you look real good.”</p><p>“I look real good.” Tumble repeated.</p><p>“Yeah, shut up. Lemme try.” Once more Pounce was pushing past him. “Just gonna go for it-”</p><p>Instead of doing a cartwheel Pounce decided to go for a full series of flips, which actually were impressive until he tried to nail the landing. Rather, the landing looked like it would have been flawless if Munkustrap hadn’t decided to walk directly into the line of fire. All Tumble could do was watch as Pounce flipped head over heels and obliterated the poor Jellicle Protector with a truly spectacular failure of a landing.</p><p>Both toms lay still in the clearing, stunned and silent. </p><p>“Uh, you guys okay?” Tumble hurried over. </p><p>“I think so.” Munkustrap said dazedly. “What hit me?”</p><p>“Pounce.” Tumble crouched down next to the cat in question, who was curled up in a ball and holding his leg. “Pounce?”</p><p>“’m sorry, I messed it up.” Pounce whimpered. “I killed us.”</p><p>“You didn’t kill anybody.” Tumble leaned over to look at him better. “Did you hurt yourself?”</p><p>A pause. “No.”</p><p>“Pounce.”</p><p>“Please don’t tell Munk.” Pounce whispered. “I don’t want to be in trouble.”</p><p>Behind them Munk was finally sorting himself together and standing up. There was no time to think, only time to act. With a practiced motion Tumble slung Pounce over his shoulder and took off. Their only advantage was that they were both small enough to crawl through the nearest pile of junk and disappear before he could figure out where they went.</p><p>“Ow! Be gentle, I’m broken!” Pounce complained when Tumble shoved him into a box and shut the lid over them both. </p><p>“You’re fine, be quiet before Munk finds us.” There would be time to check him over as soon as he was certain they weren’t going to be caught.</p><p>“You don’t care about me at all.” </p><p>“Yeah I do, that’s why I ran away from Munkustrap. Do you know what he’s gonna do to me when he finds us?”</p><p>“You? You didn’t kick him into next week, what do you think he’s gonna to do me when- mmph!”</p><p>It was cliché to silence Pounce with a kiss but it was the only thing Tumble could think of. Pounce’s whining quickly turned into pleased humming as Tumble kept him occupied. Once they eventually came up for air they both huddled together in silence, waiting for Munkustrap to pass by their hiding spot.</p><p>“Okay, I think he’s gone.” Tumble peered outside of the box after a couple of minutes. There was no sign of the silver tabby.</p><p>“Phew. Thought I was gonna be a goner.” Pounce stuck out his leg. “Do you think I’ll be able to walk again?”</p><p>“I’m sure you will.” Gingerly Tumble prodded the appendage. “Does this hurt?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Can you move your foot?”</p><p>Obediently Pounce rotated his ankle, wincing slightly. “Yeah. But it hurts.”</p><p>“How bad?”</p><p>“Um, kinda.”</p><p>“How much is kinda?”</p><p>“More than a little but less than a lot.”</p><p>Tumble sighed. “This is why Jenny always gets a headache after treating you.”</p><p>“I… hmph.” Pounce crossed his arms over his chest and went silent.</p><p>“Hey, don’t be mad.” Tumble shuffled over to him, mindful of the injury. </p><p>“Yeah, well, don’t be an asshole.” Pounce huffed. “I didn’t mean to bust up my leg. I just wanted… wanted to… nevermind, ‘s stupid.”</p><p>“Pounce, you might be a dingus sometimes, but I wouldn’t call you stupid. Come here.” Tumble wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer. “What’d you want to do?”</p><p>“I just wanted to impress you.” Pounce mumbled.</p><p>“Impress me?”</p><p>“Yeah. ‘cause you do all these really cool acrobatics and stuff and I… I just sit and watch.”</p><p>“Pounce, you do so much cool stuff.”</p><p>“No I don’t.”</p><p>“Yeah you do, you doofus.” Tumble gently stroked behind Pounce’s ears. As expected Pounce relaxed into the touch and flopped up against him. “I’ve seen you climb things that no cat in their right mind should be able to climb, and then you’re crazy enough to jump off them and not kill yourself. If that’s not impressive I don’t know what is.”</p><p>“Hmm.”</p><p>“Not to mention that you are in a relationship with me, which is clearly the most impressive thing about you.”</p><p>“Wow.” Pounce flicked his ears in Tumble’s face. “Really know how to build up confidence.”</p><p>“Look, I’m not all that good at the mushy stuff.” Tumble admitted. “But I love you. I wouldn’t be hiding in a box from Munk with you if I didn’t.”</p><p>Pounce was silent for a long while, long enough for Tumble to think he had fallen asleep. Eventually he shifted a bit and broke the silence.</p><p>“Thanks, Tumble.” Pounce murmured, wrapping his arms around Tumble’s middle and settling down next to him.</p><p>With a happy purr Tumble settled down with him and allowed himself to fall into a peaceful doze. Hopefully when they woke up things would be back to normal.</p><p>“I love you, Tumble.” The words pulled him out of his slumber. There was a gentle tug on his ear.</p><p>“What’d you say?” Tumble asked sleepily.</p><p>“Nunya.”</p><p>“What’s nunya?”</p><p>“Nunya business.” The smile on Pounce’s face was wide and as obnoxious as can be. Playfully he grabbed Tumble’s ears and yanked them hard enough to kill any remaining relaxation Tumble had left within him.</p><p>“POUNCE!”</p><p>It was amazing how fast Pounce could run, it truly was, especially since he was supposed to have a busted leg.</p>
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